Thread: 244 immigrants arrested in four-day sweep across Southern California

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS: Sixty-seven Inland residents jailed in federal sweep

BY BRIAN ROKOS / STAFF WRITER
Published: Aug. 31, 2015 Updated: 5:19 p.m.

INLAND ARRESTS

The apprehension of 67 undocumented immigrants with serious convictions living in the Inland Empire by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement included these totals from selected cities:

City of San Bernardino: 11
Rancho Cucamonga: 6
Fontana: 6
Moreno Valley: 5
City of Riverside: 4
Bloomington: 3


ON ICE

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended 244 people in a sweep of undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records. The arrests by county:
Los Angeles: 99
Orange: 55
San Bernardino: 43
Riverside: 24
Santa Barbara: 20
San Luis Obispo: 3

Immigration officers rid Southern California of 244 of the worst criminals among its undocumented immigrants in a wide-ranging sweep that included 67 offenders living in the Inland Empire.

Murderers, rapists, child molesters, spousal abusers and gun runners from 21 countries are being prepared for deportation after a four-day operation, officials announced Monday, Aug. 31.

Others were arrested in Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

All 244 had criminal convictions. Slightly more than half had records that included felony convictions for serious or violent offenses such as child sex crimes, weapons charges and drug violations. The remaining had convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors.Those convictions give them priority to be deported.
Most, 191, were from Mexico. In all, they were from 21 countries, including Peru, Thailand, France and Ghana. Four are being prosecuted for felony re-entry into the U.S.

Those who had re-entered the U.S. or had orders to be removed can be deported immediately. Those who are not being prosecuted will be processed for deportation, and most of the rest are awaiting a hearing before an administrative judge.

Among the 43 arrested in San Bernardino County and 24 arrested in Riverside County last week were a 46-year-old Guatemalan national taken into custody in Upland on Aug. 26 who was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two children.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said Monday that the unidentified man was taken to Adelanto Detention Facility to prepare him for deportation.

ICE provided details on three of the others apprehended in the Inland Empire during the sweep. All are awaiting deportation.

A 43-year-old Cambodian man was arrested in San Bernardino on Aug. 25. He had been convicted in 1991 of murder while armed with a firearm and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A 55-year-old Mexican man was arrested in Beaumont on Aug. 24. He has two convictions for spousal abuse and has additional arrests in California for battery, driving under the influence and cruelty to animals.

A 30-year-old Mexican man was arrested in Riverside on Aug. 23. He had been sentenced to eight years in prison for possession for sale of a controlled substance. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

The Inland Empire is no more a haven for violent undocumented immigrants than other areas, Kice said.

Anyone could be their victims, she said.

"In many cases, the individual being victimized by foreign nationals are other members of the immigrant community," Kice said. But the threat is to the entire community, she added.

http://www.pe.com/articles/arrested-...ocumented.html

244 Immigrants Arrested In LA As Part Of ICE's 'Ongoing Commitment To Prioritizing Convicted Criminals’

By Cedar Attanasio | Aug 31 2015, 05:44PM EDT

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested hundreds of convicted criminals living in the U.S. illegally in Southern California . ICE agents launched the four-day roundup of immigrants wanted for deportation last week, the agency announced on Monday. The arrested netting convicts and wanted individuals from 21 countries. ICE Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations David Jennings said in a statement that the sting was part of the Obama administration’s efforts to focus on potentially dangerous individuals rather than going after every-day immigrants that are in the country illegally but don’t pose a public safety risk.

“This operation exemplifies ICE’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing convicted criminals and public safety threats for apprehension and removal,” Jennings said. “By taking these individuals off our streets and removing them from the country, we are making our communities safer for everyone.”

ICE officials say that only the more serious criminals were arrested, including those convicted of felonies (Level 1 offenders) or three or more “significant misdemeanors,” (Level 2) which include domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual, burglary, firearms violations, drug dealing, drunk driving, or any offence that results in a jail sentence of more than 90 days.

Fifty-seven percent of the those arrested were Level 1 offenders, while the remaining 43 percent were Level 2 offenders, according to an ICE spokesperson. Some of the arrestees are non-violent offenders who have not been deported before. They are will be able to challenge their deportations, according to the L.A. Times .

The agency cited four cases of men from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador who had reentered the U.S. illegally after being deported following sexual abuse convictions. While the vast majority of the immigrants detained were from Mexico (191), a sizeable chunk were from Central American countries (32) and other countries (21).

Below, we’ve listed the numbers of criminals arrested in the sweep.

Mexico – 191
El Salvador – 18
Guatemala – 10
Honduras – 4
Columbia – 2
Peru – 2
Philippines – 2
Thailand – 2
Cambodia – 1
China – 1
Ecuador – 1
France – 1
Ghana – 1
Iran – 1
Iraq – 1
Italy – 1
Jordan – 1
South Korea – 1
Romania – 1
Venezuela – 1
Vietnam – 1

http://www.latintimes.com/244-immigr...nvicted-337602

20 arrested in Santa Barbara County during 4-day immigration sting

2 hours ago •
Abby Hamblin ahamblin@leecentralcoastnews.com
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Immigration agents arrested 20 people in Santa Barbara County as part of a four-day sting that resulted in 244 total arrests in California, authorities said Monday.

Slightly more than half of the 244 people arrested last week had felony convictions and the rest had significant or multiple misdemeanor convictions, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Seven subjects arrested in Santa Barbara County had convictions for domestic violence; six others had one or more DUI convictions; and five had serious drug-related convictions.

The agency said those numbers underscore an emphasis on deporting immigrants who commit crimes in the United States or pose a public safety threat.

One such example occurred Aug. 26, when a 38-year-old Mexican male was arrested in Santa Maria, according to Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Lori Haley. The subject has prior convictions for participating in a criminal street gang, possession of a controlled substance for sale, felony spouse abuse, writing false checks, resisting a public officer and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

Those who aren't criminally prosecuted were to be placed in deportation proceedings.

Nearly eight of 10 arrested were from Mexico, with the rest from 20 other countries. Los Angeles County accounted for the largest number of arrests with 99, followed by Orange County at 55, San Bernardino County with 43, Riverside County with 24, Santa Barbara County with 20 and San Luis Obispo County with three.

Fifteen of the 20 people arrested in Santa Barbara County during the Cross Check Operation were arrested in Santa Maria. The other arrests in Santa Barbara County were made in Mission Hills, Lompoc and Guadalupe.

The sting, which ended Thursday, comes as the federal government meets resistance from local law enforcement agencies to cooperate on immigration enforcement, a trend that captured widespread attention after a 32-year-old woman was fatally shot in San Francisco by a man with an extensive criminal and immigration history.

ICE removed 102,224 people from the interior of the county during the 2014 fiscal year — a 24-percent decline from the previous year — and those numbers are expected to drop again in 2015. ICE said its numbers fell last year partly because state and local law enforcement agencies were refusing to hold people when immigration authorities asked.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said all 244 arrested last week were arrested in the community, as opposed to being held by local law enforcement at ICE's request. The agency didn't offer a detailed account of their criminal records in a press release but said one had been convicted in 2002 of sexual abuse with force and another had been sentenced to prison for child sexual abuse.

http://lompocrecord.com/news/local/a...7ab9dac45.html